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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USNS General David C. Shanks (T-AP-180)exUSAT General David C. Shanks (1943 - 1950)

NDVTAwards, Citations and Campaign RibbonsPrecedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
Second Row - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal
Third Row - Korean Service Medal (1) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

David C. Shanks, Jr. was born on 6 April 1861 in Salem, Virginia. He was a student at Roanoke College in Salem from 1874 to 1878. He entered USMA and graduated thirty-three of thirty-seven in the class of 1884. Isaac Newton Lewis, inventor of the Lewis machine gun, was one of his classmates. He was commissioned in the 18th Infantry. From 1888 to 1894, he performed frontier duty. From 1894 to 1898, he was the Professor of Military Science and Tactics at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. During the Spanish-American War, he served as a major of Virginia volunteers. From 1899 to 1901 he served during the Philippine Insurrection, and from 1903 to 1904, he was governor of the province of Cavite. During World War I, he was commander of the Port of Hoboken, New Jersey. He was promoted to major general on 5 August 1917. From September 1918 to 30 November 1918, he commanded the 16th Infantry Division at Camp Kearny, California, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. This was a short-lived training unit that never saw service in the field. He also received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal. On Armistice Day 1921, he was the pall bearer for the American Unknown Soldier of World War I. He also served as a pall bearer for President Warren G. Harding on 5-7 1923 in Marion, Ohio. In 1925, he retired and wrote a book on management of the American soldier. In retirement, he lived in Washington, D.C., where at the age of seventy-nine, he died on 10 April 1940.
Text: U.S. Army National Infantry Museum
Digital ID: ggbain 30321 Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Bill Gonyo

105k

USAT David C. Shanks underway in San Francisco Bay, probably, early circa 1946.US Navy photo # 98762 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center, Donation of Boatswain's Mate First Class Robert G. Tippins, USN (Ret), 2003.

USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) being assisted away from the pier at Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA., by Red Cloud (YTB-268), circa 1950s.US Navy photo # NH 103783 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.

Robert Hurst

54k

USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) manoeuvering, probably at San Francisco, circa 1950s, with the assistance of navy harbor tugs.US Navy photo # NH 103784 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.

Robert Hurst

74k

USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) departing port with passengers aboard in April 1951.US Navy photo # NH 103785 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.

Robert Hurst

94k

USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) arriving in Hawaii with personnel of Marine Transport Squadron 152 (VMR-152) on board, during the 1950s. The squadron flew Douglas R4D aircraft from bases in Japan during the Korean War.US Navy photo # NH 103786 from the Military Sealift Command Collection at the US Navy History and Heritage Command.

Robert Hurst

119k

USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180) preparing to depart North Pier, Yokohama, Japan, for the United States on 14 August 1958 with troops and cabin passengers lining the rails.US Navy photo # NH 103787 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.